Same Old, Same Old at HP?

theodp writes "Computerworld Editor-in-Chief Don Tenant expresses astonishment at HP's cluelessness in the wake of its boardroom leak investigation fiasco, noting that HP CEO Mark Hurd's choice for a new Chief Ethics Officer was Hurd's go-to guy at NCR when the boss wanted internal leaks investigated." From the article: "It seems incomprehensible that no one at HP could foresee that appointing a former Hurd colleague to the ethics oversight position might be perceived as a shameless attempt by Hurd to keep from being further sullied by the scandal. But there's another dimension to all this that's even more baffling. Nearly two weeks before HP announced Hoak's appointment, BusinessWeek ran a story that recounted how Hurd had to deal with a number of internal investigations at NCR, including probes of leaks of sensitive information on Yahoo message boards."

Comments

Who knew the GNU kernel was in such a state

[CRCulver]

a shameless attempt by Hurd to keep from being further sullied by the scandal.

Well, there's no way the Hurd can escape further criticism for the scandal of being twenty years overdue when there's still no usable code.

Oh, that Hurd.

Is his decision so bad?

[Salvance]

Mark Hurd has been the best thing that's happened to HP in a long time. His decision to bring a trusted advisor from NCR to be in charge of Ethics is hardly baffling - this same individual was able to stop leaks and other unethical behavior at NCR while keeping the activities fully legal and 'above the board'. The scandal at HP arose from Mark directing subordinates to take care of the leak problem, but the subordinates not being trustworthy enough to take care of the problem legally and ethically.

The Computerworld story seems unfair in characterizing this decision as cluelessness - who wouldn't bring in their most trustworthy colleagues to solve their toughest problem?

Re:Is his decision so bad?

[maxume]

Um. The problem is that Hurd might have been involved in the scandal. If he was involved, bringing in his good buddy isn't going to do anything to help the shareholders. If he wasn't involved, an unquestionably impartial(notice the unquestionably) party would still be better for the shareholders.

Re:Is his decision so bad?

[maxume]

That's probably taking it a bit too far. It isn't clear what exactly Hurd's involvement was; during the testimony of his that I watched, he came off pretty well, it didn't seem like he thought everything that happened was ok, he said all the right things, he was actually willing to testify, etc. Saying the right things is easy, but at least he did it.

This decision isn't neccesarily bad either, it is just unfortunate given the recent scandal; the problem is that it doesn't do anything to convey that the problems are being fixed, not that it is a problem in and of itself.

Getting the facts straight

[Anonymous Coward]

A few quick issues:
1) The probe started before Mark Hurd became CEO.
2) The Board of Directors, specifically the Chairman, was directing the investigation.
3) Internal council, external council and the Chief Ethics Officer (doh, he obviously wasn't qualified for his job) worked closely on the investigation.
4) Hurd was probably a bit more worried about profit and revenue, not some board room soap opera.
5) No one has said that NCR's investigations were in any way illegal or unethical.
6) The illegal activities were performed by a number of other firms.

How these peope came to run HP

[viking80]

You may think the leaders of the great companies are exceptional and unique people. You are very wrong. They are just like you, for good and bad. The insight into HP has revealed this quite well. They are probably a little arrogant and eloquent, but you will quickly get that in a matter of a year.

So why do they have millions of $$ and all the perks and you little? A large part is chance.

Assuming you are reasonably competent with a good attitude, you will surely be a project manager. With success, you will oversee all projects in your division, and then probably become division manager. Now, if your division is successfull, you will be promoted fast to corporate leadership, and again, now you need success of the whole corporation to get further, and with that you will quickly run the company.

You can at any time, and you should, jump ship, and continue the career for a new company, just like playing frogs.

The catch in all this is simple: Luck and Selection. If your first project is a failure, your career stops. It does not matter what the reason was. This is true all the way, so:

1. Only work for a company that sells what you do. Only than can you reach the top. An IT guy in a hospital will never run the hospital. Physicians will.
2. Only pick sure successes.
3. Jump ship if neccessary, and do it early. Dont ride a failure to the bottom.

The HP managers just lucked out on the above due to good times or other random global events, and managed not to screw up early on.

Just go for it.

Re:I've always wondered about this.

[maxume]

Actually, they make plenty of good decisions. Th bad ones recieve an inordinate amount of attention.

HP Ethics Chief Went After Press to Quash NCR Leak

[theodp]

From NCR delayed contaminant tests: For at least 10 years, NCR Corp. put off testing to learn the full extent of environmental contamination at its former manufacturing complex, in part because company officials feared the results would create adverse publicity and prompt an expensive cleanup, internal NCR memos show...In a three-page letter to the Dayton Daily News dated Jan. 22, Hoak stated that the memos were "confidential, proprietary and attorney-client privileged" and raised legal issues with the newspaper's possession of them, including concerns regarding "trade secrets." Hoak wrote that NCR is "closely examining issues and remedies," and urged the newspaper to "refrain from publishing their contents."